Road joint and method of making same



Sept. 12, 1933. w. 5. EDGE 1,926,516

ROAD JOINT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed March 22, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Sept. 12, 1933. w. s. EDGE ROAD JOINT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 22, 1930 INVENTOR V aiented sept 12, 19331. j v

a s 6f a ROAD Jomri AND MmnooonMAKmd- I Walter S.- Edge, Pittsburgh, Pa assignor, #by

mesneassignmenta; to Pittsburgh SteelVCom J o pany, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennj sylvania 1 Applic ationMarch"22,"1930". ise iei no. 423,125 p A f 3 :Claims. *(oi. 9448) j f I r H j a My invention relates to the forming of joints mid n the Co cret thud SaV i h im in'concrete roads or the like, andfwhile it is here-- Which w u d Qth W Se be r qu for I v inafter described as employed in the forming of the concreteprevi s pou the 'm either longitudinal or transverse jointsinconfi er l- 1 jf I v Q 5 crete' to form weakened lines of division between Another object of my invention isto provide 60 V the sections of'concrete it iis capable of use a mfi an a di ethod whereby. 12 5 p ssib 110 various other concrete structureswhere weak- Q pJ St b r much harrowelfthaln 5? ened lines or expansion jo'nts are'desi'red, as for h re f e deemed to be: possib e in connection instance in concrete tank structures. 1 I with the use of asphaltic fillers .either pre formed :In the construction of longitudinal joints fo' 'fi e 7 a 65' concrete pavements; two'methods' have been ,co'mi i i 0f my'rii'lvefition is .p monly employed; By one method, a slot is formed 7 a J'Q wh r i t is etter hesion between V in thepavement b fore theconcrete is hardened e fil t r t thus ak n f and a precastistrip or slab of asphaltic material greater p n f h joint a r l- '15 isjuien inserted in the slot. By theother method, a, A t e d i c ist e ia r fb'rm'afid 7 0 1 the slot is formed and is filled bypourin'g a Seal l d-e V 0r interlocke joint molten asphaltic material. into the slot, after the w hout h use of a permanent f rm which m t 'concretejhasdried; Bothofthese methodsare b l t in P 0 3 1 i o e to various obj ti n Stillanother object-ofmyinventionjis tosim- Z0 The pre-cast filler is expensiveto manufacture D 1ify and improve gen al y m k J' Q '15 and is difiicult of installation,"particularly if the in Q QEt? v i 7 slothas become partially filled withfdir't. or other 1 3 f thQWayS in w c y nv n may foreign matter: durin the period'which must e a ti ed a s w n e a ompanying elapse'while'the concrete. is drying. If ,thejoint ra w e ein Figurel is a crosssectional .2 is forced into place 'whilethe concrete is plastic, i f p ltion of a Pave S w g 080 deformation and breaking of the concrete ;may form q i d y y 11161111001; g- DWS re ult, j i V l f j V another form of slot; ;Figs;' 3, 4 and 5*show still- In the method involving the pouring oi joint other m s 6 a d Show e n sid i by the hot asphaltic material, the concrete must elevatlonal vlewsres a tool h ybe thoroughly dry-or steam will develop in, the a slo a o d rt lioint of Fi .2; Fig: 85

slot; which will result in the presence of voidsini ,8 is an I d levati0na1 view of atool for forming jtheijoint. Furthermore, thefslot frequently be- 510115 similar 0 1111036,. ig 3, 4 15; Fi 9 comes filled with" foreign matter that prevents sh a preliminary t r i a w e'jo nt entry of the j'ointmaterial; In the imaking" of for, u depthof the, concretLF 10 Shows transverse joints employing apre-cast filler, the a h r s p e mi'ngof sucha j inUFi Another objection to the older method of pour t r p a elbl board of d 5 i filler is expensive to manufacture and isdifiicult l l ai'l s y f ll Figl v of installation, it ireq'uiring considerable care to I bW h in after filling; ShOW the supportit in its proper positio'n'duringthe opeiee C DlB Bdi i t Withthesheet metaljplates of tion of depositingjand finishing the concrete. Fi m d; F is p f bective viewof ing joints arises from thefact'that the slots must 8 er 'nec ey ew 0f E I th plates of Fig- 10. 1' be madeiof considerable width in order to insure" Referring i QQ G et pavementis that'the'molt'en mixture will completely fill the d cat d bt ith nu l I t o heode same, since in narrow slots the hot mixture be- .Si Width Reformed 1 181 in t-2 l- 1 comes chilled and will not fiow clearto theboti knownwaysiiasy the-use of iform plates ot tom of theslot; Various objections incident to t gtQ SQ "This 5101? s WI a fi l i J'Q nL 1 the poured joint may be of course overcome, as material 1 1 ha i o p s Oi'sandor gravel by cleaning thewslot before pouring, and by'reparticles and ayplastic" fiileifs'uch as emulsified, pouring thejoint to fill incavities which'may asphalt or emulsified 'heavy.oil.- The joint is have developed through thepresenc'e of moisture first filled. withthe granules; which maybe in 5 i in theconcrete, butsuch operations involve addie; the formi of gravel or coarsesandand the emulsi tional expense. m I fied mi'xt'ure containing asphalt or-heavyoilas One object of my invention is to provide'a' then poured into thejslot, ina'coldcondition, and. method whereby a joint may be-poured with cold preferably hile theconcreteis stiil'wet but after 5 material immediately after the-slothas been ithas set sufiicientiy to he self -sustainingh 1 dried out or" the filling material, such material will beof a soft plasticconsistency similar to the consistency or ordinary elastic .joint material.,.

The granular material is graded so that the grains are of substantially similar sizfefthus. leavingvoids through which the emulsifiedmixture may readily flow to completelyfillltheslot: The per-1 missiole fineness of the granular 'materiaLwill,

of course] depend upon the "consistency of the filling material. The granules could be composed of large and small sizes, hut-the voids ,wou1d, in.; some caseabe too=sinall=to permit free flow of the liquid material. On grades, the granules will tend to hold 7 the mixture "fromiflowing out of the slot Elastic. granulesof ilfi lfkfruhber or sawdust can :bei'employed instead of the sand or gravel, so

that they will be compressible and egrpansible during expansion and shrinkage of the pavement. L

25". a f It willof' coursebe understood thatthe, gran- 45" the hot plastic materialwoiuld become-chilled "andstifiened the slot. a I I These narrow joints are desired insome local The pavement 12 of Fig. 2 is shown a joint 13. that islof muchnarrower widththantheljci'nt [of "Fig. "1, and may be. as sr'nallfas ules Ina/5 be omitted and the slot completely filled with the plastic material, if'desiredl inch in. width. This jointfmay extend clear to the bottom of the concrete'or heof only partial depth, asshown, to provide a'w'eakened line that 1 will confineflcracks which may he iormed'in the concrete asindicated in'FigA, and as well-known in the art. The "s1ot'at13 is filled by pouring into itan emulsified asphaltor heavy oil as in 7 the case of Fig.1, while thej concretejis still wet.

.The presence of the water in the emulsified mixture facilitates its flowing to the bottom of the narrow 'slotJ, If an ordinary hot mixture Were employed, it would not readily ilowto the' bottom ofgthe' slot-because in case-the-pavementwere damp',i'steam would befform'ed, while in' any case i hed' the bottom or Vim-es preference to W r Joints, and; further? of thejslot prevents the material from flowing away from it during drying, and to provide .macadam-like Iwearing surface"-on"th'e -illler throughcompactingiof gravelf" I v In Fig; 3, the' pave ment'has a slotlfi-foriried This *joint' will be poured and finished in.,.sub-

- tuouspath in e a c l e te 1 a 'con ai reinforcingb'ars' or dowel pins 18 and'lwherein" I r V r supported on the road bed in any'suitable'm an V stantially'the same manner as the joint 13, the

' emulsified mixture readily flowing down the .tor-

. In Fig. 4, I show a pavement 17 the joint 19 e tendsonly; to the bar's'llii, This 'velop only in thesame vertical plane as the slot, asfindicated at 20; I

In Fig. 5. I show aistruc'ture whereinacorrugated metal form 21 is placed in't'n e concrete below dowelwpins22 andwherein aejoint 23 simipinsf lar tolthe joint 19 is, provided-above the} dowel In Figs-Q6 and. 7?, "I show a hand tool or cutter the slot of Fig. 2. {Thistool isprovided with-a cutting@blade"26,'and' finishing and troweling sur-v faces 27 for smoothing and rounding oli'the coriners 510135; H 1 r v a 'Fig'. 8 showsa similar tool 28, but which has a curved plate 29 for forming'slots similar'to those shown Figs. 3,,4 and 5.

, -With furtherreference to narrow joints such as. shown in Fig. 2, filling. material can in some instances be dispensed with. For example, the blade 26o? t e-$0 1525, ina'yibe' nl'oved back and forthin'- the-fs lot to, smooth the walls'thereofi; while the' 'concrete is still plasticjbut nevertheless isfofjsuch stifiness that it will not. flow Upon removal of the tool, the walls'of the slot will ordinarilysettle'into contact with one another; but will not firmly unitewith one another. :as having Furthern10r'e, there is usually water on the surwalls of the slot-may unite at some points n'ev ertheless a weakened line is present along which cracks in'the: finished concrete will be confined.

develop in the concretethrough movement of the wallstogetheni 1 I f :7 The back and-forth movement of'the slotting tool tends to'bri'ng water to the'surfa'ce of the concrete, which water may flow int o the slot as above-explained. After: removal of the" tool .25; for: forrn ingnarrowslots in concrete, such as' oftheconcreteatthe upper portion of the face'of'the concrete during'thesmoothing opera tion, whichwill flow into the slot and maintain separation of the walls thereof; Althoughthe the surface iof theiconcrete in the vicinity of theyslot may be smoothed as by a floating action or by' the exertion of some slight pressure to re ,unite the walls of. the" cleit at their upper portion' s, thus producing an unbroken surface, while the line of the cleft'is still distinct below the, surface, "although the wzillsofjthe'cleft may be in contact withjjon' another throughout their depth.

v It has'been'found that-this construction constitutes aplaneofweaknesswhich is perhaps as fiective as if a ioreign'filling'r'naterial had been In Figs; 9 to 15,1 show a'mann'er in which wide joints fsiinilfar {to those. of Fig. f-1,f but extending for the'full. depth "of. the concrete maybe formed.

-A sub-gradeorroa'd bedis indicated by thehii- @The methodoi for ne the joints as shown disposed-transversely of the roadway, alth ough .:the same proceduremay..beiollowed in forming longitudinal joints. In; the case of transverse joints, a formboa'rd or metal plate 32 is-placed ofthe mama's 'andfiextending transversely of the center line." These boards or :form plates are her and the cOncreteSl is poured against-the siclest l 'iere'of and'thereafter smoothed.

stead of being straight as is the-slot or Fig. 2;

on the sub-grade to each side of'the center line j 1,92 ,51 j and while the concrete is stillplastic, metal plates 33 preferably'toothed attheir lower edges are 'crete stiifens.

the concrete and the joint material, the'slot repushed into place with their lower edges extending into the sub-grade 30, as shown more .clearly in Figs. 11 and l2. The platesf33 have flanges 34 at their upper edges to'stiffen the same and to protect the corners of the concrete at the form plate 32. v V

'After the plates 33 are in sand, gravel, cellular rubberor other elastic ma- 35 as shown in Fig. 13.

'ily taken up by the soft concrete before the cone I'find' thatupon final drying of mains perfectly filled from top to bottom. -I claim as my'inventionfg o 1 The method of forming a joint or plane of place, the rormmg; board is removed, leaving the slot open as shown, in Fig. 11, whereupon granular material such as while the concrete is :wet. I

the material along a predetermined. line and simultaneously smoothing the walls of the cleft, while the concrete is still. plastic; the cleft being of such narrow'widthrthatthe walls thereof may 'move into contact with one another without vweakness in concrete which comprises" cleaving cracking of the concrete body, andintroducing a cold liquid'fillingmaterial into the cleft.

5 2; The method efforming a joint in concrete which comprises cleaving the material alonga predetermined line while theconcrete is plastic the eleftbei'ngof such narrow width that thewalls thereof may be moved into, contact with one another Without'cracking oi the body, and introduc-.

mg emulsified filli'ng material into the cleft.

which comprises clleav ingfthe'materialalong a 3. The method of forming a joint in concrete predetermined line while the concrete is plastic,

the cleft belngof such narrow width that the walls thereof may be'moved into contact with one an- WALTER; s. D

95" other'without crackingof'the'body andjintrodum ing a cold liquid filling material into :the' cleft 

